'Bury the last remnant of the Cold War': Obama calls for a new relationship between Cuba and the US

In a historic Tuesday address to the Cuban people, President
Barack Obama attempted to turn the page on tense relations
between the United States and Cuba while urging the island
country's leaders to embrace democratic principles.

Obama, addressing leaders that included Cuban President Raúl
Castro, said although the two governments still have differences,
he would not abide by policies of past presidents that he said
were not addressing modern concerns.

"I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the
Americas," Obama said.

He returned to the theme at multiple points in the speech.

"I know the history. But I refuse to be trapped by it," he said
later.

Throughout his address, Obama repeatedly called for additional
political rights for the Cuban people. He called for open
elections, expanded free-speech rights, and more access to the
Internet.

"I believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without
fear. To organize and to criticize their government and to
protest peacefully, and that the rule of law should not include
arbitrary detentions of people who express those rights," he
said.

Not all the speech was critical of the Cuban government.

Obama acknowledged Castro's frequent complaints about US foreign
wars abroad and the outsize influence of money in US politics.
The president also reiterated his call for Congress to lift the
US trade embargo on Cuba.

Obama's call for democracy has been a key part of his trip to the
island nation.

His speech came a day after
a tense joint press conference between Obama and Castro, in
which Castro was pressed by CNN reporter Jim Acosta about the
Cuban regime's refusal to acknowledge locking up political
dissidents.

"Just mention a list. What political prisoners? Give me a name or
names or when, after this meeting is over, you can give me a list
of political prisoners and if we have those political prisoners
they will be released before tonight ends," Castro responded.

Obama's trip to Cuba marks the first time since 1928 that a
sitting US president has visited the island.